Thread: Tdi versus TD5

IMHO .. I don't believe there is much between the tdi and TD5 off-road
I've had my TD5 for about 7000km's now, I've only done a couple of trips off-road .. nothing too serious so I will abstain from commenting on the off-road ability just yet, all I can say is .. once in low box .. I couldn't tell which one I was driving .. except for the subtle differences off course.

Again IMHO .. unless you own a dedicated offroader and don't work fulltime, your tdi or td5 will spend 90% of it's life onroad .. that includes the fire trails and dessert/dirt tracks we call off-road but could really be driven with a Commodore. It's for this reason that I went for a TD5. From the first test drive it was a lot nicer to drive around town and at cruising speeds. It seems happy to cruise at 120kph and doesn't require any gear changes when you hit an uphill. In the tdi it always felt like I was ringing it's neck just trying to cruise around the speed limit. There is of course the issue of the TD5 turbo lag but I believe can be remedied by adapting to a different driving style.

We can debate the technical differences but at the end it's sitting in the drivers seat where the proof is in the pudding (was for me!). Time will tell if there is a "noticeable" difference off-road .. but to be honest .. I probably won't be able to tell unless I take both vehicles and do a comparo in similar circumstances [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img]

Henry.

What Henry says is true.

We drive very hard off road in Malaysia. Sometimes we travel 20km in 24 hours or more. I have experienced the 200, 300 and td5 in these conditions.

The 200 in my opinion are the best 'cz there is not much turbo lag and gear ratios are good for hard terrain. The 300 have less power down low and you need to build it up. The td5 has too much newbies, the electronics are too low (under the seat), they get wet during high water crossings and the accelerator response is a bit slow due to the new "fly by" gadget (i think thats what its called).

However in Australia I would use a TD5, as what Henry says.

I went from 150kw 3.5l petrol to the TD5. I don't find the turbo lag, or boost, to be a problem. If you want a bad turbo boost, try a 3.0 Patrol.

The only problem the TD5 has is off-idle torque. It's not great. But other than that, no problem at all with it. Once it's on boost, which is 1400rpm plus, it tends not to stop. I agree about the ECU though, wish I could think of a decent solution. The ECU remaps the the throttle in low range.

I would say the TD5 wouldn't be the limiting factor, it'd be the driver. I'm very pleased with mine. There seems to be more urge than the Patrol 4.2, for example.

Haven't recently driven a 200 or 300tdi though. I understand the TD5 to be slightly more thirsty. My 110 returns about 11.3/100 no matter how or where it's driven.